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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30099714">Hijinks Ensue</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lemonpoundcake/pseuds/Lemonpoundcake'>Lemonpoundcake</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Video Blogging RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fluff, Found Family, Friendship, Gen, Library Shenanigans, Mystery, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, and i'm writing fanfic about them, so these are my friends, they said it's okay though, what tags do i put here</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-05-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 22:49:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,399</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30099714</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lemonpoundcake/pseuds/Lemonpoundcake</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>So I'm writing a fanfic about my friends...<br/>they said it's okay though.<br/>So this is about the discord I'm in for dsmp stuff, except it's a library.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>No Romantic Relationship(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Deed to a Mystery</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Colourspaz/gifts">Colourspaz</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Julia was honestly kidding herself if she thought she was qualified to run a library, but, nevertheless, there was her name in that stupid curly handwriting that the bank had forced her to put on the deed. </p><p> </p><p>“Hey cheer up!” Her friend Emma said, nudging her with her elbow. “This is gonna be great.” </p><p> </p><p>“What have I gotten myself into?” Julia said, her head in her hands.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> The answer, as it turns out, was yet to come.  </em>
</p><hr/><p>They walked into the old building, peering around at the dusty bookshelves and long since used desks and chairs. The fun computers they had spent their childhood begging their parents to play at were long since sent into the depressing downward spiral of disrepair. </p><p> </p><p>“What happened to this place anyway?” Emma asked, blowing some dust off of the reception desk and searching through some of the drawers. </p><p> </p><p>“What happens to anything we love? It gets eroded by capitalism” Julia responded in a huff, striding over to the computer tables. Emma looked at her quizzically.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay Socrates” Emma retorted, rolling her eyes. Julia seemed to have a connection with this place, as if she had built it in a past life. </p><p> </p><p>“No, in all seriousness, this place was thriving, and then people just stopped reading books and it closed. No one wanted to fund an empty library.” Julia said, plugging in what she thought was a power cable in a vain attempt at making the screen flash to life. Then it occurred to her that this place probably didn’t have any power, she had only signed for the deed, she didn’t think she had paid any bills. Testing her theory, she walked over to a bank of light switches on the wall behind the reception desk, flicking a few of them. Sure enough, and much to Julia’s dismay, no lights came on and the old library remained dark. </p><p> </p><p>“Ah Fuck.” Julia swore into the empty library. It mildly echoed off of the walls. She pulled out her phone and flipped on the flashlight, sweeping it through the dark library. She moved deeper, lulled into a trance of childhood and what was to come, thinking about all the possibilities that could come from this library. She moved into the adult section, taking a moment to look at the books that had been left here by librarians long past. She picked up a copy of The Great Gatsby, leafing through a few yellowed pages. As she read it though, he face scrunched into a look of pure confusion. This was not the Great Gatsby she had been forced to read in school, no, there was something wrong with this copy, all the mentions of male characters had been replaced by more feminine versions. What was “Jay Gatsby” became “Jamie Gatsby”. What had once been ‘Nick’ was now ‘Nickola.’ Someone had made a lesbian Great Gatsby and shoved it into the shelves with the rest of the books. She put the book back on the cold metal shelf, opting to reach for a cover she hadn’t seen before, the thick book titled; <em> Dream’s SMP, Season one: A tale of Woe and Misfortune. </em> And similarly next to it was what appeared to be an even bigger book titled; <em> Dream’s SMP, Season Two: No Way Out But Down. </em>She stared in wonder at these huge books. Had they been here her whole life and she had simply never seen the adult section? Had they appeared here via some urban explorer? There was simply no way to tell. </p><p> </p><p>“Hey, it’s like 5:30, we should start heading home.” Emma said, appearing from around the isle. Julia nearly shot 6 feet into the air, startled at Emma’s sudden reappearance. She held her hand to her chest as her heart slowly returned to her normal resting heartbeat. </p><p> </p><p>“Jeez Jules, didn’t mean to scare ya.” Emma said sarcastically. </p><p> </p><p>“Warn me next time is all, ya idiot” Julia said, pretending to punch Emma in the arm, she wasn’t really mad, just weirded out by the sudden appearance of this book that she had never seen before. She shoved the season one book into her bag before heading out the double doors to  walk home with Emma. It was a chilly fall evening, and even though it was a short walk through their hometown, Julia felt chilled to the bone by the time she reached her house, not even the amazing colors of the changing oak leaves on the path they used to navigate their way home could distract her from thinking about the weird book in her satchel. </p><p> </p><p>They shared a house, Emma in one room, and Julia in the other. After a dinner of delicious potato garlic soup, she plopped down on her bed with the huge book in her hands. She clicked the light on her nightstand, leaning against the pillows on her bed and propping up the book on her knees. She briefly glanced at the poster on her wall, a football player for some team, she could never remember the details, not that they mattered. What mattered was the proud face displayed on the poster, Number 11, Punz. When she had first moved into this house she shared with Emma, that was the first thing she had put up in her room, before even her bed. She would be ashamed but to be fair, Emma’s room was covered in horses, so she had a feeling that she shouldn’t be too concerned. She looked back down at the book, trying to focus. </p><p> </p><p>“Let’s see here.” She said, opening the book to the first page. She ended up reading late into the night, finally finishing the book around 3 am. It told a story about men and children in a war for discs and pets and arched over a huge world and countries and governments. As she finished the last few pages she simply gaped in astonishment. Whoever had written this story was a mastermind that wound a thread over many years that were still somehow enthralling. Telling this story of a man named Wilbur, his friend Tommy, his Father Philza, and Philza’s tragic killing of his son. It dissected the relationships of a green man named Dream, and his friends and maybe lover George. Julia yawned, snapping her mouth shut. She should probably sleep, she and Emma had a long day of cleaning ahead of them. As she closed her eyes, she drifted into dreams of splendor. She dreamt of sheep woman knights to royal rulers. She imagined wide sweeping landscapes ruled by ram-hybrid presidents, and a fox man that had a salmon for a mother. Her dreams conjured wonderful sunny days full of bees and pigmen, of another realm that was hot and arid. All night she thought about what she had read, and she fell asleep with a smile on her face. </p><hr/><p>“You look like shit.” </p><p> </p><p>“Thanks”</p><p> </p><p>Emma was as nice as ever, greeting Julia the next morning at the breakfast table with such elegant language. Julia shuffled over to the coffee maker and started making herself a pot, pouring the coffee grounds into a filter and putting it into the machine. As the machine started to warm she tried to wake herself up, blinking hard. She didn’t notice Emma come up from behind her to put a hand on her shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you like, actually okay?” she asked, with genuine concern in her voice. </p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, Yeah, I just stayed up almost all night reading,” Julia yawned, taking the now ready coffee and pouring it into a mug that had a sloppy “Punz Simp” written on it in sharpie that Emma had made as a housewarming present.</p><p> </p><p>“I can’t believe you still have that” Emma joked with a smile. </p><p> </p><p>“What, this?” Julia asked, raising the cup to take another sip of the coffee. </p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, lmao, to be fair, I thought it would wash off.” Emma laughed, turning to sit at the table with her plate of eggs and toast, shovelling in huge bites of her scrambled eggs. Julia rolled her eyes. </p><p> </p><p>“What were you reading anyway?” Emma asked around a mouthful of food. </p><p> </p><p>“Chew before you talk you heathen.” Julia said, setting down her mug and grabbing out bread and putting it haphazardly into the toaster. </p><p> </p><p>“No,” Emma retorted, though swallowing before continuing, “You are the heathen for drinking black coffee. You have a problem.” She finished, taking another huge bite of toast. Julia just rolled her eyes again.</p><p> </p><p>“I think it’s fair to say that we both have problems.” she remarked, taking her now toasted bread and spreading some raspberry jam over it. She picked up her now lukewarm coffee and toast and moved it over to the table. She dug around in the satchel on the table and produced the heavy volume of <em> Dream’s SMP Season One </em> , placing it with a solid, <b> <em>THUNK</em> </b>, on the table. “I was reading this.” she explained. Emma stared wide-eyed. </p><p> </p><p>“Where did you get this?” She asked looking over at Julia.</p><p> </p><p>“From the library.” Julia replied, eating a respectful sized bite of toast. </p><p> </p><p>“Where? I’ve never seen something like this before.” Emma was confused, she opened up the cover. On the first page was;</p><p> </p><p>
  <b> <em>Dream’s SMP (Season One)</em> </b>
</p><p>
  <em> A Tale Of Woe And Misfortune </em>
</p><p>
  <em> By: </em>
</p><p> </p><p>But instead there was a scribbled dark patch over where it would have said the author, and it just said ‘Many’ in what was clearly black pen. She flipped to the next page. </p><p> </p><p>“It all starts with Dream, a green man, whether he was the hoodie or the hoodie was him remains unclear. What we know is that he wears a porcelain mask with a hastily drawn smile?” Emma read, unsure of what she was looking at. </p><p> </p><p>“Yup” Julia said, “Standard Fiction.” </p><p> </p><p>“Look at it though.” Emma motioned to the thick tome. “There’s no way all that can be exciting.” </p><p> </p><p>“But it <em> is </em>” Julia assured, finishing up her breakfast and gathering up the supplies they would need for that day. Emma remained baffled, continuing to stare at the book in utter disbelief. </p><p> </p><p>“Here,” Julia handed Emma a flashlight. She took it, not looking and continuing to stare at the book as if she could absorb all the knowledge in it simply by looking. Julia paid her no mind and simply continued to wander about the house, shoving anything she could think of in her bag. What she finally ended up with were paper towels, cleaning spray, rags, flashlights, legal documents, her credit card, and of course, her phone. </p><p> </p><p>When she returned to the kitchen, Emma was still buried in the book. “C’mon we gotta go dummy.” she shoved Emma gently, who shook her head, apparently snapping her out of whatever trance she was in. Julia scooped the book into her bag, nestling it comfortably in with her supplies. They walked towards the door, Emma putting on her coat and Julia her thick orange sweater. Emma opted for a slick pair of black converse while Julia slipped on some old skechers sneakers. Emma was halfway into the brisk September morning when she abruptly turned tail and dashed back inside. Julia turned, confused.</p><p> </p><p>“I already got the book!” Julia called. She stared at the Emma-less doorframe, wondering what was so important that Emma had to run back inside for it. No less than a minute later the door once again contained Emma, and in her hands was a pot with two cacti in it. On the front of the pot was a neatly taped piece of paper that had the names of the cacti on them. </p><p> </p><p>“Ah yes, Toot Toot and Fuckshit, how could I forget them.” Julia snarked. Emma only rolled her eyes in response. </p><p> </p><p>“If I am meant to be a receptionist, then how can I be a receptionist without chicos accoutrement?” Emma asked innocently. It was Julia’s turn to roll her eyes. They simply walked through the chilly September morning. Although it was still mid-September, their town had seemingly not gotten the memo and had jumped straight into October. Julia shivered and pulled her sweater closer as a breeze passed through the street. Emma glanced smugly at her, seemingly flaunting her choice to wear a fully fledged jacket without evening needing to say anything. </p><p> </p><p>Once they reached the Library, Julia hastily opened the front doors, swinging them open with a harsh metallic groan. They walked into the main area, once again glancing at the vaulted ceilings and the wide expanses of bookshelves that seemed to stretch out forever. Emma placed her cacti at the desk, turning them a few times until they were at an angle that met her liking. Julia pressed the rags and cleaner into her hands.</p><p> </p><p>“Aw man, why do I have to do it?” Emma complained. </p><p> </p><p>“Because I have to call the power company, the water, and the HVAC, though that might be linked to the power, so go dust or something while I make some calls.”  Emma walked off in a huff, seemingly choosing to start with the children’s section. Julia took one more big glance at the building, she was determined to return this place to its former glory, and further then that, she was dead set on making it a safe haven for everyone in her town, all it would take was hard work and elbow grease, <em> and probably paying bills on time </em>, she thought as a steady draft wanted into the room, serving to raise goosebumps on her skin. She finally turned towards the desk, stationing herself in a chair behind it. She pulled out the deed, her credit card, and her cell phone. She did quick google for the appropriate billing information in her county, finding a number and dialing. </p><p> </p><p>She ended up on hold for a total of 2 hours that day, opting to help Emma in her cleaning efforts while ditzy elevator music played from her phone’s crappy speakers. They ended up being able to completely dust and clean the shelves, to ensure that no kiddos would die from dust inhalation. The phone call ended up being fruitless, only telling her a website to check for billing information. As she looked a little closer. the kid’s section was strikingly bare. There were a few books dotted here and there, but Julia couldn’t have counted more then four, as opposed to the oddly placed books in the adult’s section. <em> Strange </em>, Julia thought, but shook it off as the adult section being much larger, so more books would have been left behind. She pulled the book out of her bag, handing it to Emma, who had decided she would take a break before continuing. Julia picked up the cleaning supplies and moved into the adult section once more. </p><p> </p><p>To be fair she did really try to clean, but she was drawn back to that weird shelf with the book she had gotten yesterday. If she remembered correctly, there was a second book, and sure enough, as she approached the shelf, there was a second book waiting for her there. She picked it up and blew off some of the dust. Looking at the title again, she flipped to the first page like she had seen Emma do that morning. This one read;</p><p> </p><p>
  <b> <em>Dream’s SMP (Season Two)</em> </b>
</p><p>
  <em> No Way Out But Down </em>
</p><p>
  <em> By: </em>
</p><p> </p><p>This one also had it’s author scratched out, but instead of “Many” like in the first book, this one read; “The Many in the Few” also in what was clearly black pen. Julia was baffled. Was there a weird creep insisting on stocking the shelves of this old abandoned library in the hopes that someone would one day find it? No matter how else she searched the book, she could not find a publisher or a copyright date. <em> Where did this book come from? </em> She wondered, placing the book into her bag. She walked absentmindedly back to the reception desk. She checked her phone, it was already 6:00. Ugh, she had lost track of time. She strided over to where Emma had been sitting before, a blue bean bag in the children’s corner. She looked at her phone again, where an alert told her that the power should be back on as soon as tomorrow or as late as friday. It was Wednesday, so that wasn’t too bad. As long as it didn’t get much colder they were in the clear to continue cleaning. <em> Nice </em>, she thought. </p><p> </p><p>“Yo we should really get going.” she said, not looking up from her phone. No response. She looked up, there was no Emma and no book. She glanced around. </p><p> </p><p>“Emma this isn’t funny, if we leave any later it’ll be freezing outside.” There was a long pause that should have been filled with Emma appearing from her hiding place, but, as it did not, Julia called out again. </p><p> </p><p>“I’ll leave without you!” She threatened. </p><p> </p><p>A quiet  “Shhh” came from one of the bookshelves. She leaned down and twisted her head. Emma was crouching behind one of the bookshelves. She put a finger over her lips and motioned for Julia to get closer. As soon as Julia was in reaching distance, Emma grabbed her and pulled her to her side. </p><p> </p><p>“Emma, what are you-” but she was cut off by Emma placing a hand over her mouth. She quickly removed it though, using it to point at one of the vents.</p><p> </p><p>“I really don’t see-”</p><p> </p><p>“<em> Shut up!” </em>Emma hissed under her breath. Soon enough, Julia saw what she was talking about, one of the long since used vents was rattling and shaking violently. </p><p> </p><p>“Look this place is old, it's probably just rats.” Julia said, standing up again. Emma stood too.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah you're right, sorry, don’t know what got into me all of a sudden.” she shrugged, collecting her things. They headed for the door, bracing themselves for the uncharacteristic chill of September. But then, the vent started to rattle much more violently. They both stopped in their tracks turning back to see what was happening. The thin metal gave one more spastic shake before collapsing in a sharp, <b> <em>CLANG</em> </b>, to the ground. </p><p> </p><p>What came out from the decades old vent was not what either of the women expected. What came out was not a rat, or even a squirrel or raccoon. No, what fell from that vent was a scrawny teen boy who fell to the carpet with a thud, standing and dusting himself off. </p><p> </p><p>“Fuck, that was rough.”</p><p> </p><p>“Who are you and what are you doing in my library?” Julia called out to the boy. The boy, visibly frightened by the new people, took off running into the adult section. Both Emma and Julia gave good chase, but they ran out of breath before finding him. </p><p> </p><p>They spent a good two more hours searching for the kid, finally giving up and reasoning that he must have gone back up into the vents. Julia looked at the damage, fetching a ladder from the supply closet and latching the chunk of metal back in. </p><p> </p><p>“Good enough until we call a repairman.” climbing off the ladder and returning it  where she had gotten it from. Joining Emma again in the lobby, Julia thought for a moment. </p><p> </p><p>“Hey kid! The heat’s coming on tomorrow so you might want to get out of the vents!” She shouted with cupped hands into  what looked to be a completely dead library. Satisfied with her response to a random teen boy in her vents, she turned back towards the doors, where Emma stood waiting, and bundled up as best she could stepping into the frigid night air. </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Two New Begginings</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Julia rubbed her eyes again, checking the time on her alarm clock. It was 4 in the morning and she was tired, as any sane person would be at that hour. She had finished the book for season two 4 hours ago and she was so taken by the story that she just had to create her own. She glanced back at the screen of her laptop, a word doc opened titled; “Somehow You’re There.” She was so taken by the idea of these characters, Karl, who wore a hoodie with a cool teal spiral on the chest, and Sapnap, who wore a white t-shirt with a flame in the center. The books had been very specific about their clothes for some reason, maybe it would come up again later. Anyway, they had gotten engaged at some point, and she had wondered, what if they were dating, and also in her hometown? As soon as she had been stricken with that thought, she had shot out of bed and flung open her laptop. Then what had commenced was more of her vomiting idea into a word doc and staring at it, tweaking parts as she went. It didn’t really matter, she guessed, what they wore in the book, she would make them wear something else to fit in and…  she needed a catalyst. Hmm, yes, weed would work. She had never once touched a drug in her life, but that didn’t stop her from bullshitting her way through it. </p><p> </p><p>At around 5:30 am her phone pinged with a text message notification. She picked it up from where it had been face down on her desk for the past hour and a half. The screen turned on and a pop-up on her lockscreen told her it was from her partner. She quickly entered the pin and navigated to the message app.  </p><p> </p><p>
  <b> <em>Dixon</em> </b>
</p><p>
  <em> You’re not up are you? </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Julia considered for a moment before responding. She had had her girlfriend over the previous weekend, speeding through both the books. She knew full well what Julia was doing, and (reasonably) was concerned. She took a moment to think about her response before typing. </p><p> </p><p>
  <b> <em>Julia</em> </b>
</p><p>
  <em> No…  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b> <em>Dixon</em> </b>
</p><p>
  <em> Sigh </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Julia giggled a little at this, turning back to her computer. She continued to work for another half an hour before the dopamine stopped surging and a tidal wave of tiredness crashed on her. She sluggishly closed the laptop’s lid, and climbed into her bed, reaching for her phone once more. </p><p> </p><p>
  <b> <em>Julia </em> </b>
</p><p>
  <em> Goodnight &lt;3 </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b> <em>Dixon</em> </b>
</p><p>
  <em> Goodnight you hooligan &lt;3 </em>
</p><p>
  <em> &lt;image attached&gt; </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Dixion had sent her a gif of two animated bears hugging. She set the phone back on her bedside table and flipped over under the covers to look at her poster before closing her eyes. She smiled, drifting slowly off to sleep, thinking all the while about the door to an amazing and incredible world that she had just so happened to stumble across in an old dusty library. She wondered if it would have ever been read if she hadn’t found it, though, it looked considerably old and used. Some pages were dog-eared and bent, while others were as fresh as clean snow.</p><p> </p><p><em> That’s a problem for tomorrow. </em>She thought, or, technically, today, she corrected as she finally drifted off. </p><p> </p><p>She awoke to the sun streaming through the blinds of her window. She squinted at them, rolling over lazily to check the time. It was 10 am, she had slept for only four hours. She sighed, pulling off the blankets she was semi-trapped in. Rolling out of bed, she slogged over to the dresser, pulling on a random quippy t-shirt and covering it with a hoodie, reaching over her messy dresser to grab a hairband and putting up her hair. </p><p> </p><p>She walked down the stairs, passing up the coffee maker for a can of monster she had in the fridge.</p><p> </p><p>“Emma?” she called up the stairs, today wasn’t a cleaning day, they had been mostly done with that last week, all they had to wait for as the repairman and the exterminator. The heat had come on last week as promised, and they had not seen hide nor hair of the boy. “Emma?” She called again, this time getting a grumble in response. “I’m going out for the day.” she called back at the noise, walking over to the fridge and grabbing a can of vibrant pink monster. “Y’know Julia too much caffeine is actually bad for you” She said sarcastically, in a mocking tone of her partner’s voice, striding back over to the door and pulling on a winter coat with the rim of the can held tightly in her teeth. The weather had been breezy before, and had only gotten worse since then. She wished she was in bed like Emma, her night/early morning escapade wearing on her, but she persevered. She was getting coffee with her girlfriend this morning, and if she didn’t leave now she was going to be late. She shrugged on her bag and double checked that she had her phone, which she did. </p><p> </p><p>Stepping out into the day, it was just as cold as she had anticipated, and she was thankful for her coat. She turned, heading down Main street and rounding the corner at 2nd. The coffee shop she was headed to was small and warm, and it always smelled like lavender. As she rounded the corner to 2nd street, there they were. Duck in all their glory. </p><p> </p><p>They had on a grey long sleeve shirt and a red and black flannel over top, and over all of that was a rugged jean jacket with a bunch of pins on them. Most notably though, were two pins Julia had gotten them. One, in a glaringly annoying neon pink text on yellow background read; “I identify as a problem” and another in a simpler black font inset on a trans flag read; “My pronouns are your/mom” </p><p> </p><p>Julia giggled at the sight of her partner. Upon hearing the noise, Duck’s head whipped around to face her, and she waved. They waved back, a big goofy smile on their face. Julia jogged up to meet them. The monster can was almost empty by now. She took the last gulps from the can before tossing it into a nearby trash can, the can making a quiet TING! Sound as the metal hit the bottom of the bag. She gulped in a breath and closed the last few steps between her and Duck. </p><p> </p><p>“Good morning you gremlin” Duck said as Julia stepped up next to them, and Julia giggled, poking at Duck’s outfit.</p><p> </p><p>“You look gay.” she said, still laughing.</p><p> </p><p>Duck bowed deeply. “Thank you very much m’lady” Julia lightly shoved them, now laughing so hard she was only making a quiet wheezing as she shook from laughter. Duck ushered her inside the small coffee shop with a big dramatic eye roll, a big goofy grin still stuck on their face. </p><p> </p><p>“Let’s go, you absolute maniac.” they said, putting one hand on Julia’s back and pushing her through the threshold and following shortly behind, pulling the glass door shut softly as to not disturb the bustling but quiet environment inside the coffee shop.</p><p> </p><p>They settled into their usual corner booth, ordering small pastries and their coffee. Dixon insisted Julia get decaf and she reluctantly agreed, not before putting up a fight though. Julia Anderson was not one to go down without a fight.  </p><p> </p><p>“I saw that monster you tossed into the trash can.” They said when Julia tried to protest. “Too much caffeine is bad for you Julia.” they said, practically mirroring Julia’s mocking joke from the kitchen that morning. This devolved into another round of laughing fits that Duck had to stare confusedly at Julia for ten minutes before she could get enough breath to explain why she was laughing so hard.</p><p> </p><p>Dixon ended up getting a latte. Once they had gotten their drinks and snack they melted into their environment, chatting quietly as the two of them drank their respective beverages. At one point, Julia reached over to Dixion’s plate, taking some of the frosting from their cupcake on her finger and booping Duck on the nose with it. They laughed quietly and did the same to her. The pair stayed in the shop for a little over an hour. Once they had finished and paid, they stepped back out onto the sidewalk, still laughing and chatting. </p><p> </p><p>It was cold outside, and there was a stiff breeze as they exited the coffee shop. The chill of the outside air was noticeably different then the warm and cozy artificial heat pumped into the coffee shop. Subconsciously, she started walking closer to Duck, trying to absorb the heat they put out. Walking quickly, they walked all the way to the library. It was Duck’s first time seeing the library and they stopped in the lobby to admire the high ceilings. Julia smiled and pulled out her phone, texting Emma that she was at the library before putting her phone back in her pocket and ushering Duck further inside. She showed them the front desk and was headed into the renovated kid’s section to show them the fresh new beanbag chairs and cute little tables when she was nearly scared out of her skin by Emma stepping around a shelf. She raised her hands in claws and screwed up her face to make it look comical. </p><p> </p><p>“Boo!” She said with a laugh as she saw Julia's reaction. </p><p> </p><p>“What the fuck Emma!” From behind her she could hear Duck laughing hysterically. Emma was doubled over laughing now, her hair covering her face as she shook from laughter, her wavy hair bouncing frantically as she wheezed. She righted herself, wiping her tears from her eyes with her sleeve. </p><p> </p><p>“Wow you are just so jumpy!” Emma said. Julia rolled her eyes and turned to look at Dixon. </p><p> </p><p>“Did you set this up?” she asked briskly. They nodded.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re alway more jumpy when you’re sleep deprived so I thought it would be funny. I texted Emma when you got to the Cafe so that she could be here and hide before we got here.” They said with a laugh.</p><p> </p><p>“Well haha, very funny, I think you just took 5 years off my lifespan.” she responded with a huff. She turned and headed back towards the desk.</p><p> </p><p>“It <em> was </em> funny!” Emma said. “You should have seen your face.” She called to Julia’s back. Julia rolled her eyes and started walking, sprinting really, into the adult section to hide. Her face was burning red and she didn’t want Emma to have the satisfaction of knowing she was embarrassed on top of already scaring her. She quickly weaved around the shelves and navigated the isles. Finding what she was looking for, she moved into her now favorite isle. On the shelf was a now a much more cared for <b> <em>Dream’s SMP (Season One). </em> </b>Julia had taken the time to fully dust the book and even tape up some of the more damaged pages. She sank to a sitting position against the shelf, her knees curling into her chest. </p><p> </p><p>“We’ve got a shipment of books coming in from the government this week so you won’t be so lonely.” It took a moment before she realized that she was talking to a book, and not only that, but assuming it had feelings. <em> Why would a book be lonely? </em>She thought.  She smacked her palm against her head in frustration. “What am I doing?” she asked the air, rubbing her temples with the edges of her hand, a dull headache starting to form in the forefront of her mind. “Why did I think I could do this?” she asked aloud. </p><p> </p><p>“Because.” came a soft voice from further down the aisle. Julia looked, not being scared this time. She saw Duck, their jacket discarded somewhere and the sleeves of their flannel rolled up. “Because,” they started again, walking closer to Julia and kneeling down. They put a hand on Julia’s shoulder and she relaxed her muscles, not realizing they had been tensed. “You’re Julia Anderson and you don’t go down without a fight.” Julia smiled, pursing her lips to stop tears from tears from falling from her eyes. Duck leaned down and pressed a kiss into Julia’s hair. “Sorry for scaring you.” they said after a pause. Julia nodded. </p><p> </p><p>“Hate to break up this cute romantic moment.” came a lilting voice that was decidedly <em> not </em> sorry. Julia’s eyes snapped to where Emma now stood at the opposite end of the aisle. “But we’re stuck here.” It took a moment for Julia to go from sad to confused, taking a moment as her brain processed the words that had just come from Emma’s mouth. </p><p> </p><p>“What?” she asked</p><p> </p><p>“Stuck. Here.” Emma said again unhelpfully. </p><p> </p><p>“I know what stuck means dumbass. Why are we stuck? How?” Julia asked, waving her hands in front of her to try and provoke a helpful answer from Emma. This usually proved difficult. </p><p> </p><p>“Come see for yourself.” Julia pushed to her feet, Duck trailing slightly behind. They reached the front door, where a blockade of snow pushed dangerously against the door. </p><p> </p><p>“Oh.” Julia said, dumbfounded. “<em> OH </em>” she repeated, information finally flooding into her brain. “Fuck what are we gonna do?” </p><p> </p><p>“I brought this.” Duck said from behind the desk, pulling a couple sandwiches in plastic bags from presumably their jacket pocket. Julia couldn’t stop herself from grinning.</p><p> </p><p>“Always so prepared.” she remarked, turning her eyes back to the growing problem that was the front door, her grin quickly fading. “Well we’re less fucked then before.” She briefly considered the temperature of the library. They had had that vent repaired right on schedule, and that was about 3 weeks ago. The only problem that remained really was the shitty HVAC system that hadn’t been turned on, much less put through an evaluation in a decade. </p><p> </p><p>She walked over to the resource closet, where the boiler was. She fumbled for the pilot light switch, hoping against hope that a small flame would flick on. Once. Nothing. Twice, still no light. In her frustration she kicked the thing, flicking the switch once more. Success! The small burner flickered to life and she celebrated. Walking back out into the main room and dusting her hands in triumph she gloated to her adoring fans</p><p> </p><p>“I got the heat working.”</p><p> </p><p>“Did you kick it?” Okay, so maybe not <em> adoring. </em> </p><p> </p><p>“Yes.” She pulled her phone out of her pocket to get the time, the small digital clock in the corner telling her it was 5:30. She sighed. They were in for a long night. She clapped her hands to clear her thoughts, somewhat startling Duck, who was digging through the drawers of the desk. “Let’s eat huh?” she said, grabbing the sandwich bag labeled “Jules &lt;3” and walking to sit at one of the kiddie tables,, placing her baggie on the table’s surface and pulling out the sandwich, placing it atop the bag like a plate. Emma and Duck grabbed their bags as well, joining Julia at the table. They fell into a comfortable silence as they chewed, each thinking about how they could use the things around them to not die in the library. Okay so only Julia was thinking that they might die, but still. </p><p> </p><p>It was in this comfortable silence that Julia thought she saw a flash of black or dark brown hair. A familiar head of dark hair. She pushed up from the table and put her finger to her lips when the assembled party looked up at her in confusion. She slowly walked to where she thought she saw the boy from the vents, being careful to not make any noise. As she rounded one of the bookshelves she saw him. He was crouched over searching the shelf. She looked on curiously. </p><p> </p><p>“Hey.” She said quietly, a hushed whisper so quiet she wasn’t sure he had heard it at first. His head whipped around and he started to back away from her quickly. <em> Okay he definitely heard it. </em></p><p> </p><p>“Hey, hey, whoa. It’s okay buddy.” She said, holding her hands up to show that she meant no harm. He stopped, his eyes searching her up and down. She held out the remains of her sandwich that she hadn’t realized were in her hand. “You want this?” she asked in a sweet voice she barely recognized. He hesitantly came forward. He crept ever so slowly closer to Julia until he was close enough to hold out his arm and snatch the sandwich from Julia and hurriedly scarfing it down. “Whoa buddy take a breath” she said, concerned now that the kid was gonna choke. He looked up from his sandwich for a moment to glare at her. “What’s your name?” she asked gently after he had finished the last bits of the sandwich. He thought for a second before answering. </p><p> </p><p>“Uhh Neil.” he said in a hoarse voice. She smiled. </p><p> </p><p>“How old are you?” she asked him. He thought for even longer this time. </p><p> </p><p>“uhm 15 I think?” he responded, still looking confused. </p><p> </p><p>“You sure?” she asked with a grin on her face, hoping that cracking a joke would lighten the tension a little. </p><p> </p><p>“Well it’s not exactly easy to tell time in the vents is it?” he hissed at her, scooting away. She put her hands up. </p><p> </p><p>“Sorry!” she apologized, trying her best to be sincere. Neil’s face turned downwards. </p><p> </p><p>“Julia!” Both heads snapped up at the sound of Emma’s voice echoing through the library. Neil started to scoot away, back towards the adult section. </p><p> </p><p>“Wait!” Julia called out, holding out her hand to Neil. “Come meet my friends? I promise they’re nice.” Neil thought for a minute before reluctantly placing his hand in hers and they both stood. They exited the aisle as Emma entered. </p><p> </p><p>“Who’s this?” Emma asked, one eyebrow raised. Her eyes flicked from Neil to Julia in rapid succession. Julia looked down at Neil, who was looking back up at her. He was pretty short, but I guess that’s a good thing if you live in vents. She chewed her lip, thinking for a moment before turning back to look at Emma with a decided grin on her face. </p><p> </p><p>“This is Neil.” She started, watching as confusion spread on Emma’s face. “He’s my new friend.” she finished turning back to look at Neil, who was grinning from ear to ear. <em> It’s probably been a while since he’s had a friend </em> she thought sadly. Oh well, she would be his new friend. She kneeled down so that she was eye-level with Neil now and stuck out her hand to shake. “Friends?” she asked. He grabbed her hand and shook it wildly. </p><p> </p><p>“Friends.” he responded.</p>
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